1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to flexible arms, specifically to an arm which can support and carry water to a showerhead, yet which is rigid yet bendable.
2. Prior Art
Years ago all showerheads were attached directly to a rigid shower pipe that extended out of a wall or were otherwise supported. The showerhead sometimes had a pivot or swivel connection to the pipe. The pivot enabled the user to adjust the angle of the head and hence the direction of the sprayed water. However the head was fixed to the end of the pipe and was not moveable or translatable (adjustable in location) to accommodate users of different heights or to spray different areas of the body.
In recent years, many showerheads were attached to the pipe by a flexible showerhead arm that carried the water from the pipe to the head. Some arms were flexible but rigid enough to remain in any selected position. Such arms enabled the user to translate the position of the head to adjust the spray to the user""s height, or to direct it to any desired part of the body. However such arms had various drawbacks, including leakage from the arm, inability to remain in the adjusted position, unreliability, complexity, etc.
Some flexible yet rigid arms were made of a series of mating ball-and-socket (BandS) sections that formed moveable joints. However these joints separated when the user tried to bend the arm too far, i.e., to less than a given angle or radius of curvature. U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,206 to Lockwood (1995) shows an arm with internal stops molded into the BandS sections to prevent such overbending and separation. However these stops made the shape of the BandS joints relatively complex and the stops themselves could break. In addition, this patent is still in force and its claims may cover some arms with stops.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of the invention are to provide an improved showerhead arm, an arm which will not leak, which is simple and reliable in construction, which is flexible yet which will stay in any position to which it is bent, which has joints which will not separate if the arm is bent beyond a given angle or radius, and which is not covered, insofar as I am aware, by the claims of any in-force patent. Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and the accompanying drawings.
In accordance with the invention, a flexible, sectioned plastic arm for a showerhead comprises a series of interconnected ball-and-socket (BandS) sections with a proximal (shower pipe) end piece and a distal (showerhead) end piece. Each BandS section has a proximal (cup or socket) end and a distal (ball) end. The proximal end piece has a proximal end with female threads which can be screwed onto a shower pipe and a ball-shaped distal end for snapping into the socket of the socket of the most proximal BandS section of the shower arm. The distal end piece has a proximal end with a socket for snapping onto the ball of the most distal end BandS section of the shower arm and a distal end with male threads that can be screwed onto the showerhead. The BandS sections have a through hole containing a series or chain of cylindrical brass or other metal sections, tubes, or sleeves. These prevent the arm from being bent too far, thereby to keep the BandS from separating. The two end sleeves abut a pair of respective resilient spacers or springs, which in turn abut shoulders in the end pieces to keep the series of tubes in place. Inside the series of tubes is a flexible plastic tube for carrying the water without leakage. A T-shaped end fitting is attached to each end of the black plastic tube. These end fittings hold the tube in the arm. The top arm of the T of the distal end fitting sits in the bottom of the female threaded end of the proximal end piece. The top arm of the T of the distal end fitting sits on the very end of the male threaded end of the distal end piece.